LEONG JOE YEE B17KM0011SUPERVISED BY : DR NAZRI NASIR

Development of Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)

VIVA // UGP1 // 30TH DECEMBER 2019

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UAS Defination

Unmanned Aerial (Aircraft) System

operate autonomously or to be piloted

remotely

The UAV and the equipment to control it

remotely

Source: Regulation (EU) 2019/9452

Challenge on maintain constant power supply to the load.

Power generated from PV power system must sufficient to maintain a steady flight

The harness of solar energy,

Efficiency of PV cells drops due to angle of incidence, temperature

and sun intensity

Problem Identification

Objective

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Develop methodology for solar powered system design and do the

set up.

Perform Parametric study & performance data collection and analysis on solar powered system

Scope

Fixed wing, plank flying wing UAV

Mono-crystalline Silicon cell arranged in

series on wing.UAV weight ≤1.2kg

Hand launched, low altitude solar powered UAV

Weight includes airframe, payload, PV cells, electronics part

and Li-Po battery

History of Solar-Powered AircraftPhoto source: dfrc.nasa.gov

: newsweek.com: eospso.nasa.gov: ethz.ch

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Development of PV tech (1954)

(Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, Gerald Pearson)

Nimbus satellite was launched (1964)

(NASA)

the first solar- powered aircraft, Sunrise I (1974)

The first manned solar aircraft, the Gossamer Penguin (1980)

(Dr. Paul Macready)

The Solar Challenger (1981)

(Dr. Paul Macready)

Helios by ERAST NASA (2001)

Sky Sailor (unmanned) (2008)

(Noth)

Solar Impulse (manned) (2010)

(Bertrand Piccard & Andre Borschberg)

Abbe & Smith (2016)

Configurations of UAV1. Multi Rotor UAV 2. Fixed Wing UAV

3. Single Rotor UAV 4. Hybrid UAV (Fixed Wing /VTOL)

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(DJI phantom 1) (QuestUAV Q-200)

(Shenzhen Eagle Brother Model 25L) (JOUAV’s CW-30 hybrid VTOL/Fixed-wing)

Singhal, Bansod, & Mathew (2018)

Micro UAVIsraeli IAI Malat Mosquito

SUAVRQ-11 Raven, by US Aero Vironment

Close range UAVOptimus

Medium range UAVIsrael Aeronautics Defense Dominator

HALE UAVPhantom Eye

Mass Range Flight Altitude and Endurance

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Source: Room M. H. M. & Ahmad A. (2014).

Plank Flying Wing Aircraft

tailless fixed-wing aircraft thathas no definite fuselage(Reduce Cd, weight and wing loading)

Unswept wing(Make use of whole structure

to locate solar panels)

Plank Flying Wing

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Picture Source: youtube.com (Prometreus)

Miligan (2000)

Basic Component

Brushless motor

Electronic Speed

Controller

Flight Controller

Servo

Receiver

Battery

UAV Electronic Components

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Spin the propeller to generate thrust

Control motor’s speed, direction, Dynamic speed

Collect data from GCS, send

command to ESC

Move Control Surfaces

Collect input from transmitter, pass

to flight controller

Energy storage device

Photovoltaic (Solar) Cells

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Convert usable solar energy to electrical energy by means of photovoltaic.

Photo source: goodenergy.co.uk

Source: Adejuyigbe et al. (2013). Swami R. (2012).

Maximum Powet Point Tracker (MPPT)

DC-DC buck converter

Efficiently adjust the maximumpower point to extract themaximum power according to thesurrounding.

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MPPT:

Function:

Selection of MPPT:

Therefore, Genasun 10.5A MPPT is chosen.

Diehl, (2015)

Weight Estimation

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Components Weight

2S 7.4V LiPo cell 81g

30A Skywalker ESC 37g

Sunpower C60 PV cell 9g x 16= 144g

Brushless motor 102g

Propeller 15g

Flight controller 58g

Receiver 16.8g

MPPT 185g

Telematry and GPS 50g

Wiring System 60g

Airframe Structure 400g

Total 1155g

Objective: To show the distribution ofweight on avionics, airframe and payload.

Performance Analysis

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Power Generated

Objective: To predict the power available and power required for the UAVto achieve stable and longer endurance flight.

Solar Panel Setup and Analysis

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Perform soldering ,testing on PV cells,study on the factorsthat influence thecharacteristics of thePV cells throughperformance and I-Vcurve.

Objective:

Set up the soldering table

Connect PV cells in series, check the

functionality.

Connect with integrated PV power

circuit. Check the functionality.

Perform experiment for the first case.

Repeat the experiments for second and third

case.

Record the Isc, Voc, operating current, voltage, power and

efficiency

Plot the I-V curves, analyse the power

generated

Mount the PV power system on UAV

Soldering of PV Cells

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Glass

Soldering table8x halogen light

Connecting Wire

Interconnect Tab

Sunpower PV cell

+ -

Top view of soldering tableFront view of soldering table

Integrated PV Power System Circuit

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UAV Power System Components: 1. 2S 7.4V LiPo cell 2. Sunpower C60 PV cell3. 30A ESC4. 910KV Brushless Outrunner Motor5. Genasun 10.5A MPPT

Control System: 1. PX4 2.4.6 Pixhawk + Telematry

Ground Control Station: 1. Ardupilot Mision Planner

Experiment Setup

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• Sun Angle of IncidenceTo investigate on the pitch & rollangle effect the PV cells efficiency.

Factors Influencing the characteristics of PV cell

Place the PV cells on glass surface. Secure with tape.

Tilt the surface with the required pitch/roll angle. Observe the result.

Repeat the test with different pitch/roll angle. Observe the result.

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• Sun IntensityTo understand the influence of thetransparent on PV cell efficiency.

Factors Influencing the characteristics of PV cell • Operating TemperatureTo understand the influence of temperature on PV cells efficiency.

Experiment Setup

Put on a layer of transparent film below the PV cells.

Switch on the halogen light and observe the result.

Repeat the test without transparent film

Switch on the halogen light and observe the result at ambient

temperature.

Adjust the surrounding temperature using air-cond,

repeat and observe the results.

Literature review

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Study Researchers

History of Solar Powered Aircraft Abbe & H.Smith, 2016Zhu, ZhengGuo, & Hou, 2014

Photovoltaic power system Patel, 1999Noth & Siegwart, 2006Swami R., 2012Adejuyigbe S. B. , Bolaji B. O., OlanipekunM. U., and Adu M. R., 2013

UAV Regulation (EU) 2019/945Room M. H. M. & Ahmad A., 2014Boukoberinea, Zhoub, & Benbouzid, 2019Philipp, et al., 2017Morton, D’Sa, & Papanikolopoulos, 2015

Performance of UAV Anderson, 2016

Intergrated power circuit, MPPT Patel, 1999Noth & Siegwart, 2006

Gantt Chart UGP 1TASK/WEEK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

First Meeting with SupervisorDiscuss and decide objective & scope of projectParticipate in briefing, talk and flight test

Literature Review

Report Writing

Presentation to SupervisorPropose solar panel electronic components

Develop design methodology Performance characteristics analysis of UAV

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Gantt Chart UGP 1

TASK/WEEK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Design solar panel arrangement on UAV

Propose Experiment set up

Finalise Methodology

Final Preparation for Seminar Presentation

Seminar Presentation (VIVA)

Report Submission to Supervisor

Repairing Report

Report and Logbook Submission to Faculty

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